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Johnny Manziel will play his next football games at Circuit of the Americas — of all places. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

Johnny Manziel announced Wednesday he will try to start rebuilding his pro football reputation in the three-week developmental league that will practice and play games at Circuit of the Americas.

Immediately, the story was played up by media outlets coast to coast. The former Heisman Trophy winner has made the headlines far too often for his off-the-field troubles since leaving Texas A&M. Just Tuesday, the Kerrville Tivy alum disclosed to “Good Morning America” that he is bipolar and has gone sober.

“Football has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. Sometimes you take for granted how much you value something until it’s gone,” Manziel told Bleacher Report. “My goal is to make it back to the NFL, and I realize I have to earn that privilege.

“The Spring League has provided me with a great opportunity to play ball again, and ultimately, that is all I want to do. I miss the competition. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I’m 25 years old and I know my best football is ahead of me.”

COTA chairman Bobby Epstein said the games will be held in a 3,000-seat facility where the FCB Escola soccer academy, an arm of FC Barcelona, is held. Tickets to the Saturday doubleheaders will start at $39.50.

“When we began talking with the Spring League, we thought we’d be well on our way with a 5,000-seat USL stadium,” Epstein said. “We already have two natural grass fields currently used by FCB Escola. We built the second field to allow for training when the Grand Plaza field is in use (by the campers) or unavailable.

“Additionally, for Spring League we are in the process of installing an artificial turf training field. It won’t be full-sized, but will be perfect for scouting drills and practices.”

Brian Woods, CEO of the Spring League, said 10 NFL teams and several Canadian Football League teams attended the camp last year in West Virginia. In all, he said 22 NFL clubs requested game film. The inaugural Spring League helped place more than a dozen players into NFL or CFL camps.

Manziel last played in the NFL in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns, who drafted him in the first round in 2014. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats own his CFL rights.

“We’re excited to have such a dynamic player as Johnny taking part in the Spring League,” Woods said. “We believe our platform is the ideal forum for Mr. Manziel to enact his NFL comeback.”

Five seniors from five teams were selected to the all-Big 12 preseason men’s basketball team, four of whom were second-team choices at the end of last season.

Kansas senior guard Devonte’ Graham was voted by Big 12 coaches the preseason player of the year. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham was voted player of the year by the coaches. Texas center Mo Bamba was chosen top freshman and sophomore guard Malik Newman of Kansas was named newcomer of the year.

It’s not a group that NBA talent evaluators are crazy about. Only the Longhorns’ Bamba is listed as a potential 2018 lottery pick. Graham and Oklahoma State guard Jeffrey Carroll are considered borderline first rounders, and most early mock drafts have them going in the second round.

The Texas Rangers, the state’s top criminal investigation team, has joined a federal agency and the NCAA in investigating Baylor’s handling of allegations of sexual assault, according to a report by ESPN Wednesday afternoon.

The report said that the Texas Rangers began their investigation two days after a group of legislators introduced Texas House resolution 664, calling for the criminal investigation last week.

Rep. Ronald Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) told ESPN on Wednesday that he was “very proud of the fact that our elite team of investigators has seen that there’s a need to go in there and look at what happened over the last five to six years and really to see if there’s an obstruction of justice.”

Baylor has been under scrutiny since the Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton released its report nearly a year ago. The findings led to the firing of football coach Art Briles and president Ken Starr and reprimanded athletic director Ian McCaw, who reigned.

Several Title IX lawsuits have been filed against Baylor, including five alleging that the school failed to properly respond to allegations of sexual assault by students, including football players.

The NCAA and U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights are also investigating Baylor.

As part of Gutierrez’s resolution, he calls for a reduction in grants the states provide Baylor until “full accountability is realized and concrete measures are in place to make certain that nothing like this ever happens again at Baylor or any other university in Texas. According to the ESPN report, Baylor, a private university, was awarded $10.4 million in Texas Equalization Grants in 2016.

Joseph Jones is one of two American basketball players stranded in Dubai because of the immigration travel ban. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Joseph Jones, a former center for the Texas A&M basketball team, can’t get back to his job because of Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.

Jones, who played for A&M from 2004-08., now competes for Azad University Tehan of the Iranian Super League.

He was traveling with the team when Trump issued an executive order barring refugees and citizens from seven countries from entering the United States. Iran was one of the seven countries. In retaliation, Iran barred American citizens from coming into the country.

Jones was stranded in Dubai, his agent told The Vertical. Former Tennessee standout J.P. Prince also plays for the team, and like Jones, is stranded in Dubai. The agent for both players said if the ban isn’t lifted and the two can’t finish the season, they will lose a six-figure portion of their salary.

Texas State pitcher Randi Rupp was selected as the Sun Belt preseason player of the year. Photo courtesy of Texas State athletics

For the second straight year, Texas State junior Randi Rupp was selected as the Sun Belt Conference’s preseason pitcher of the year.

Rupp, a two-time first team all-conference selection, was third in the nation in 2016 with 335 strikeouts and was one shy of tying co-strikeout leaders: Ohio University’s Savannah Jo Doresey and Minnesota’s Sara Groenewegen. Since she arrived on campus in 2015, the Mont Belvieu native has been in the top five nationally in strikeouts each season.

In her two years in the circle for the Bobcats, Rupp has amassed 628 strikeouts. Rupp participated in the 2017 USA National Team selection camp and owns a 2.16 career earned run average, 11 sjhutouts, two no-hitters, one perfect game and has a 54-27 career record.

Senior third baseman Corina Liscano was the only other bobcat selected to the preseason All-Sun Belt team.

Louisiana Lafayette outfielder Aleah Craighton was named the preseason player of the year.

Baylor guard Ishmail Wainright, left, and guard Manu Lecomte, right celebrate following their game with Oklahoma State after an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, in Waco, Texas. Baylor won 61-57. (AP Photo/Rod Aydelotte)

Big 12 men’s basketball has good reason to beat its chest today.

The powerhouse conference owns the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, according to both the Associated Press media and USA Today coaches polls.

Kansas (14-1), whose only loss was 103-99 to Indiana on opening night, is No. 2 in both polls.

It’s the fourth time in Big 12 history and the second year in a row in which the conference has showcased the top two teams in the national polls. In fact, the Big 12 has supplied the 1-2 punch the last four times it has happened in the sport.

Four Big 12 men’s teams have been No. 1 since 2010: Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. No other conference can claim that.

Baylor is the 59th different team to earn the top spot in the AP poll. The Bears are 6-0 against the RPI top-50 and 4-0 against the Top 25, giving them the best resume in the country.

The Big 12 was 1-2 last year with Kansas and Oklahoma. The conference also did it in the coaches poll in 2010-11 (Feb. 14: No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Texas) and also in the AP poll, accomplishing it for six straight weeks with the Jayhawks and Longhorns from Nov. 30, 2009 – Jan. 4, 2010.

West Virginia gives the Big 12 a third team in the top 10. The Mountaineers, who host Baylor on Tuesday night, are No. 9 in the coaches poll and No. 10 in the media poll.

Kansas State earned a tie for 25th place with Southern Cal in the AP poll.

Dede Westbrook #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners celebrates with Baker Mayfield #6 after scoring on a 75-yard touchdown pass against West Virginia on Nov. 19, 2016, in Morgantown. Westbrook is from Cameron Yoe; Mayfield is from Austin and Lake Travis. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

MORGANTOWN, WV – NOVEMBER 19: Dede Westbrook #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners scores on a 75 yard touchdown pass in the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers on November 19, 2016 at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

On the weekend of Dec. 2-3, the SEC will stage its championship game. So will the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and the ACC. Also, the American, the Mountain West, the MAC and Conference USA.

Well, the Big 12, which is formally restoring its conference title game in 2017, will informally have a championship bout Dec. 3 in Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma State (9-2, 7-1) vs. Oklahoma (9-2, 8-0).

Winner takes the league crown and earns a New Year’s Six bowl bid … and maybe more if the chaos continues in the College Football Playoff race.

The Oklahoma schools set up the Big 12 grand finale Saturday with key road victories. The 11th-ranked Cowboys clobbered TCU 31-6. In prime time, the ninth-ranked Sooners destroyed No. 14 West Virginia 56-28 in the snow at Morgantown.

Oklahoma cored four times off turnovers and Lake Travis ex Baker Mayfield accounted for four touchdowns to eliminate the Mountaineers from the title chase in an emphatic way.

The Sooners built a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“It was really a good way to come out, really focused,” coach Bob Stoops told reporters. “That’s how you want to start an important game on the road.”

The NCAA has informed Baylor that it does not intend to impose broad sanctions against the school to punish it for a sexual assault scandal.

Rather, according to the Wall Street Journal, the NCAA will pursue a narrower investigation. There had been a concern that the NCAA would treat Baylor like it did Penn State in the aftermath of the defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse convictions.

The NCAA forced Penn State to vacate 111 victories under Joe Paterno, fined them $60 million and kept them from playing in a bowl for four years. The fine was intended to help fight child abuse. Most of the sanctions were lifted by the courts.

Baylor’s own independent review found that the football team believed it to be above the rules when dealing with charges of sexual assault against its players. The board of regents fired coach Art Briles, May 26, and reassigned school president Ken Starr. The regents also reprimanded athletic director Ian McCaw.

Starr and McCaw since have resigned and are no longer with the school.

Two Baylor players have been convicted of sexual assault and a third is under indictment. One of the victims reached an out-of-court settlement with the school and another has filed a federal lawsuit.

Baylor already has hired a law firm to deal with the NCAA and a potential investigation.